Rural free delivery letter box



May 21, 1935. T. G. WADE RURAL lFREE DELIVERY LETTER BX Filed July 2l, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet May 21, 1935. T. G. WADE RURAL FREE DELIVERY LETTER BOX Filed July 21, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 21, 1935 .UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RURAL FREE DELIVERY LETTER Box i Thomas G. Wade, Greensboro, N. C. Application July '21, 1932, serial No. 623,841

4 Claims. (C1. 2372-434) `My inventionrelates to a rural free delivery or the box owner. The object of my invention is to provide a mail box, the ag of which will be automatically operated at the time that any letters or packages are placed within the box.

A further object in my invention is to provide a box on which the signaling flag will be operated4 or placed into position to indicate that the mail is within the box, when mail is placed within the box without any separate or independent operation, theiiag assuming an indicating position.

A still further object of my invention is to provide signaling flags. which will be operated from within the box and will not become stuck or adhered in one position by reason of sleet and ice in Winter-time, which difficulty offers a serious objection to the type of signaling flag which is now commonly in use on rural free delivery boxes.

Heretofore, rural free delivery mail boxes have been supplied with a signaling flag which is D mounted on the outside of the box, and must be an entirely separate and independent operation to place the signaling flag in a proper position to indicate either that there is mail in the box or that the box is empty. Very often the postman or the box owner neglects to place such a ag in the indicating position, with the result that a proper signal is not given either to the postman or the box owner and great inconvenience or loss of time is caused thereby.

It is the purpose of my improved mail box to provide a flag which must necessarily be operated at the time mail is placed within the box or removed therefrom, thereby positively and unfailingly giving a proper signal Vto the postman or to the owner of the box by indicating clearly that either the box contains mail or of mail.

In the accompanying drawings:

is devoid no mail within the box.

Fig. 2 is a cross section of the mail box. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation.

Fig. 5 is side elevation of modified form of signaling ags.

The standard mail box 2 is provided `with door 4, which is hinged to the bottom of the box, which door when opened, hinges downwardly and opens an entire end of the box 2.V

The resilient wire 6, extends through the box, in close proximity to the. bottom thereof, from one side to the Vother in a position relatively near the front `end of the box. Wire shaft 5, is provided with bent portions 8 and It)V within the box, which are adapted to Ybear upon the bottom I2, of the box and hold the wire in an adjusted position;V Through the center of the box the wire E is bent into a loop I4, which loop is adapted to be struck by any mail which may be placed Within thebox orremoved therefrom, thereby turning the wire shaft 6 through an aro varying from 99 to 180 and turning the upwardly bent end I6, on the outer .end of the shaft 6, through a corresponding arc.

The endIG, ofthe shaft, is secured to oonneoting rod I8, which extends upwardly through the guide 20, and is pivotally affixed at its upper end to integrally made ags 22 and 24, by means of the pivot 26, which is affixed to the upwardly extending arm 28, of flags 22 and 24. The flags 22 and 24, are pivotally secured to the bracket 30, by the pin 32. Bracket 30, is secured by rivets, or any convenient means, to the outside of the mail box 2.

When the shaft 6, is in position so that the loop I4, is in a vertical position, iiags 22 and 24 will be in the position shown in Fig. 1. When mail is placed within the box by the postman, in order to place the mail therein it will be necessary to push against the loop I4, so that it will assume the position shown in Fig. 4, during which change the shaft 6 will be rotated through an arc of 90 and the upwardly extending arm I6, will turn through a corresponding arc of 90 pulling with it the lower end of the connecting rod I8. By means of the guide 2D, which is approximately in the center of the connecting rod I8, the upper end of the connecting rod will travel through an arc similar to the are through which the lower end of the connecting rod I8 is forced by the movement of the arm I6. As the upper end of the connecting rod moves through an arc of 90 it carries with it the pin 26, which joins the connecting rod I8 with the arm 28, and thereby swings the flags 22 and 24, through an arc of 90 until they assume the position shown in dot and dash lines in Fig. 4, with flag 22, extending above the top of the box.

If the mail box is empty and the owner thereof places mail in the box to be collected by the postman, he, the owner, will pull the loop I4, to

a forward position, thereby operating the flags 22 and 24 in exact reverse of the manner described above, so that the flag 24, Will take an upward position rather than flag 22, as described above.

In the modified form shown in Fig. 5, I provide two flags 34 and 36, which are mounted on long shafts or arms 38 and 49, which shafts are affixed approximately at right angles to one another by means of a sector shaped plate 42, which is pivotally secured to the box 2, near the apex of said sector plate 42, by means of a shaft 44 which is rigidly secured to the plate 42, and.

which extends through the box 2, near the bottom thereof. The end 46 of the shaft 44 is bent upwardly on the outside of the box 2, and is piv- Votally affixed to the connecting rod 48, at one The opposite end of the connectend thereof. ing rod 48 is pivotally secured to the link 5D, which is secured to a shaft 52, which extends through the box 2 and carries a plate 54 within the box.

As the plate 54 is moved through an arc of 90 in either direction from the position shown in Fig. 5, the link and the end 46 of the shaft 44 will be moved through a corresponding arc of ,'thereby moving flags 34 and 36 through a' corresponding arc of 90 so that either the flag 34 or 36` will be in a position above the top of the box 2 to signal they postman or the owner of the'box. It will be understood that ags 22 and 24, and flags 34 and 36 will be of different colors or different shapes so that it will be easy to determine which flag is in a position above box 2, thereby easy to determine which signal is intended to be given. It will be understood that Iv might make slight modifications in construction of this device without departing from the spirit ofthe invention or the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. In a mail-box, the combination of signal flags pivotally secured thereto, a connecting-rod pivotally and slidably secured to said box, a sinuous shaft extending through said box in close proximity to the bottom thereof, a crank-arm secured to one end of said shaft and pivotally secured to the connecting rod, and means secured between the sinuous portions of the shaft for forming an obstruction to the entrance of the box. Y

2. In a mail-box, the combination of signal ags pivotally secured thereto, a sinuous shaft extending through the box in close proximity to the bottom thereof, a crank-arm secured to one end of said shaft, a connecting rod between said crank-arm and said signal ags, and means for rotating said shaft to effect a pivotal movement of the flags.

3. In a mail-box, the combination of a plurality of signal ags pivotally secured thereto, a shaft extending through said box in close proximity to the bottom thereof, a crank-arm secured to one end of said shaft, a connecting rod pivotally secured at one end to said crank and at the other end thereof to said flags, means secured to said shaft for turning same, and means associate-d with said shaft for holding the flags in a neutral position.

4. In a mail-box, the combination of a plurality of signal flags pivotally secured thereto, and means for placing either flag in a signaling position, said means comprising a shaft in close proximity to the bottom of said box, a crank-arm on one end of said shaft, a connectingrod between said crank-arm and said signal flags, and means within the box for turning the shaft to change the position of the flags.

THOMAS G, WADE. 

